Blood on my Knees
by Summers Rage
Summary: Because, even at the end of it all she refused to be just another dead girl.
1. Chapter 1

"Run" He yelled, the tone of his voice leaving her no room to argue. She hated the thought of leaving him to deal with the walkers alone but with the current state of her ankle she knew she would be more of a distraction then a help. All she could do was look on helplessly as he disappeared into the morgue, bating the small herd, risking his life to give her a chance.

Retreating into the small bathroom, she closed the door behind her, leaving the latch unlocked in the case that Daryl would not be able to escape through the front door. The previous inhabitants had boarded up the house tight, the only way in and out being the front door. It had been Beth that suggested they use the bathroom window as an alternative escape route, should they need it. It was high enough off the ground so walkers were not able to break in, but just big enough for them to fit through.

Stepping on the seat of the toilet, she tried to pull the window open, only to find it would not budge. "That's not possible" she thought, pulling harder. They had tested the window multiple times, it had worked. The door behind her began to shutter as a few stray walkers, who had seen her sneak off, began to claw at it. Reaching for the gun she'd grabbed in the midst of the chaos, she smashed it against the covered pane, tiny shards raining down on her. Glass dug into her hands and legs as she lifted herself though the opening and out into the waiting night.

Pain shot through her ankle as she ran without direction, trusting that Daryl would find her. Something wasn't right, they should have heard the walkers approach long before the dog barked and she couldn't shake the feeling of eyes on her, watching her every move. Beth skidded to a halt as a walker caught her eye, she couldn't have been much older than herself, long blonde hair matted to her head. What made her blood run cold was not the obvious signs of abuse, nor the obvious similarity between the two. No, it was the hell she clearly endured before her untimely end.

Red blood, dripped from the two black holes where her eyes had once been down her battered face and sunken cheekbones, down her neck, pooling into the hollows of her collar bone. Her breasts had been violently hacked away. A long incision began from her beast bone, going straight down her abdomen, finishing between her protruding hipbones. The skin had been expertly folded back, exposing where her internal organs were once held, rib cage sticking out at an old angle as though someone had ripped it apart. Chunks of flesh had been carefully shaven from her arms and legs. Her arms hung at odd angles, wrists, dislocated from their sockets, hung limply at her side. Her fingers were all but severed, several hanging by only threads of skin. Her right knee was turned towards inwards as though someone tried to twist it full to her back, while her foot went out. She was coated head to toe in thick red blood, the flesh left on her body had not yet began to rot. The girls movements were slow and uncoordinated, there was nothing surrounding the funeral home for miles, and the girl had not been dead long.

A strong hand covered her month and nose as the pieces of the puzzle clicked into place, a sickly sweet smell fogging her brain. An arm went around her torso as she struggled against her captor and the oncoming darkness. Biting through the cloth covering her face, she was able to let out a single piercing scream before pain shot through her body, she surrendered to the night.

...

A single scream rang out into the night, her scream. Though it ended as suddenly as it started, that brief sound had told him all he need to know. Busting through the horde of walkers and out of the house, he was able to pick up her trail with ease. He trained her to be light on her feet, to move without leaving a trace. Her prints were heavy, deliberate, and left for him.

She was fast, he'd give her that. She'd made good time putting as much distance between the house and her as possible. His heart dropped as he neared the road, lying in a shallow ditch was a small frame, stomach lurching as he got closer. Enclosed in the girls mangled hands was Beth's bag.

...

This is just a little something inspired by the past few episodes of TWD. I'm really loving the Bethyl ship. She's kinda perfect for Daryl in every way. It's been awhile since I've written anything so when this popped into my head I couldn't help myself. Lemmi know what you think! Next chapter should be up by the end of the weekend, if not before then.

Cheers,

C


	2. Chapter 2

The air surrounding them had long since grown heavy as Rick made his way to meet the governor. The hard steel of the weapon Daryl passed her weighed heavily in her hands, but nothing close to the heaviness that weighed in her heart. His cruelty knew no bounds as he ripped the threadbare sack off her aging fathers head and dropped him to his knees.

As a child Beth had watched her father search for happiness in the bottom of a bottle, and never once finding it. She feared those glass bottles filled with the amber liquid. Then one day they were simply gone, never to be seen again. Her fears then turned one hot summers day. Taking a break from the grueling farm work, she stowed away in the hay loft of the old barn in the far corners of the property. The creaking of the buildings worn boards alerting her to his presence before his smokey voice called out her name. He was a new hire, having only been at their farm for a few months. She'd felt as though something was off before he'd even spoken to her, the way his eyes traveled down her form and his tongue poked out to moisten his quivering lips before as they were being introduced left her feeling unease. Yet she did the christian thing, looking past his faults, and welcoming him onto their land.

She felt his eyes linger on her a bit too long, or touches that felt far from innocent, her father told her she was not being welcoming and that he just needed sometime to warm up. Fathers word was final so she did not push the issue, but made it a point not to find herself alone with the man.

Her heart beat faster in her chest as his footsteps on the ladder grew closer. Some words, she could not for the life of her recall, were spoken and suddenly he was there. Legs pinned her to the straw covered ground as his hands assaulted her person. Undoing the metal button from the hole of the worn denim she wore, Beth knew that she had a choice to make, and make it she did. Mustering strength she didn't know she had, she wrapped her legs firmly around his hips, pulling him close she flipped them around, grabbing his sheathed knife as she did so. In one blow it was over, the mans blood pooling from the wound, covering her shaking hands. Throwing the knife across the room, she curled up staring at what she had just done.

It would be her brother who found her later in the evening, family panic stricken over her absence. Per her request he never told a soul of what happened that night. Beth Greene learned that day that monsters were not made up creatures hiding under your bed and in your closet. No, they were the darkness and hatred hiding inside those surrounding you.

The breathe stole from her lungs as he raised the katana, and ending the life of the man who'd done so much for her. Bullets flew around her as the sounds of screaming filled her ears. Yet she was frozen to her spot watching as Daryl's head rolled away from his no lifeless corpse. His eyes shot open, piercing her very soul. She screamed.

...

Cold. Damp. The sound of water dripping somewhere in the darkness greeted Beth as she was startled from her dream and back into the land of the living, well living dead. Her head, still partially clouded by the drug induced haze, felt heavy as she forced it from where it hung limply on her chest, to take in her surroundings. Where ever the hell she was, was dark, an old cellar if she had to guess.

It wasn't until she attempted to move her arms that she noticed the strong metal binds around her wrists, anchoring her to her new confines. She found the same binds had been secured around her ankles, what little relief the cool metal brought to her throbbing ankle was lost to the severity of her situation. The chains rattle echoed loudly as she tested her binds, finding they didn't leave her much much room to wander. Using her hands, which had already started to numb from the tightness of her shackles, she did a quick assessment of her person. She found; a warm stickiness had congealed on the back of her head, the worn yellow polo taken, what seemed like a lifetime ago, from the club, and jeans she'd worn since the prison were missing leaving her with only her bra and panties.

A chill had sunken through her damp skin and settled deep into her bones. Stretching her limbs as far as the chains would allow she felt around the darkness hoping to find something, anything, that could be of use.

...

Daryl's lungs screamed as he pushed forward, the car having long since vanished, its faded white cross burned into his mind. He was ashamed to say he, like everyone else, had underestimated the petite blonde. Hell he'd never even noticed her until that fateful day Shane opened up those worn barn doors, she'd watched her family be slaughtered by firing squad, believing there was a cure. That they could be saved. He'd completely written her off after her suicide attempt, seeing her as nothing more than just another mouth to feed.

At the prison their only interaction was rare, if at all. With the birth of Judith, Lori's untimely death, and Rick's meltdown she'd been forced into motherhood. While he went on runs she was stuck caring for the baby and the orphaned children of Woodbury. He'd seen her more than once outside the stone walls killing walkers at the fence, and sitting under the stars alone at night when she thought everyone to be asleep.

Yes, he'd completely written her off as just another girl. It wasn't until the death of Zac that he'd even thought of her in a different light. When he'd appeared at her cell door he'd been taken aback, he found himself being consoled by a strong woman inside of the sobbing teenager he'd expected.

In the short week they'd been together she'd broken through all the walls he'd spent years carefully putting up. She'd gotten under his skin. At the shiners cabin he'd lashed out at her, trying to drive her away. But the spitfire wouldn't have it, instead of running scared, she not only called his bluff, but called him out. It was there, standing in the overgrown yard of an old rundown shack that Beth Greene tore down his wall and inked herself permanently on his heart.

He knew he'd hold those few sacred moments they shared together at the funeral home close to his heart. There was something about her, her innocence and willing to see the good in people that gave him hope. Hope that maybe, just maybe they could make the well kept funeral home something more permanent. When she asked him what changed his mind all he could do was look at her, her piercing gaze meeting his. There were no words to describe what she had done for him. She'd pulled him out of the darkness, brought him back to life, and for that he would be forever in her debt.

A cool mist rose as dawn began to break over the horizon, burning his lungs. The fork in the road brought reality crashing down on him, that he'd failed yet another person he swore to protect, and collapsed under the weight of it all.

Meeting Joe at the crossroads was nothing short of ironic, he'd lost the people he'd come to see as family and the girl who'd brought him back from the darkness. Joe was offering him a chance at a new beginning, a chance to leave all the horrors of the prison behind and to start fresh. He knew what kinda of men Joe ran with, tweakers, woman beaters, murders, thief's, and rapists. They also offered an opportunity, people like this had connections, they knew people, knew what went on in the darkest parts of the night, and they offered safe passage if he played by their rules. He offered his name, a peace offering the groups leader accepted.

...

I know this is late, work and life have been insane as of late. Hope you enjoyed. Please drop a review and let me know what you think! I'm always looking for ways to better my writing.

Thanks for reading!

C


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